Beloit College Magazine
Beloit College Magazine
Fall 2000 Contents
Departments
Features
- Underwater Archaeology
- Hearing the Meanings of Words
- Kerouac for Grown-Ups
- A Race to the Starting Line
- "Don't rain! Don't rain!"
- Taking Theatre to the Streets
- Beloit in Africa
- A Paintbrush at the Front
- Saving the Turtles
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When Amy Sarno traveled to Europe last July, vacation was the last thing on her mind. The assistant professor of theatre journeyed to Serbia and Bosnia, on a mission to learn about the political and street theatre movements that flourish in those countries. With a Serbo-Croatian/English translation book in hand, she participated in the International Festival of Alternative and New Theatre (INFANT) in Novi Sad, Serbia, attending 60 different theatrical productions in 12 days.
"It was exhausting and exhilarating," she says. "I attended workshops and worked with artists who are doing amazing things. We talked about the philosophy and meaning of theatre, and of life, and of new ways to work it all out. Then we’d attend shows at night."
Alternative theatre, as performed by the Serbian and Bosnian artists, is a popular and powerful outgrowth of the political and social turmoil that ravaged the region in the last decade.
"For a long time, the Serbian government was not controlling theatre groups, because it didn’t believe that the arts influence people," says Prof. Sarno. "So that’s where much of the free speech was heard—in productions dealing with issues that affect citizens’ lives."
Alternative theatre artists take their work out to the people, staging comedies and dramas on street corners, in parks, and other public venues. Many productions are written and choreographed by the actors themselves, and satirize political leaders and their policies. Some provide a therapeutic vehicle for the audience to address painful realities. Still others pose existential questions that Serbians and Bosnians confront daily.
"People in Serbia feel that they have no control over their lives, and they seem to question their existence," she explains. "Several companies have staged productions that addressed issues of freedom, and ‘what does life mean?’ Now the public craves, needs, and demands more theatre, because it is the only free voice around."
Prof. Sarno cites one instance that typifies the public’s response. "I had tickets to the Novi Sad Drama Academy’s production of Antigone," she says. "The play was staged as a commentary on the Bosnian war, in an outdoor walled courtyard. My companion and I fought through a huge crowd to enter, because hundreds of people were shoving to get in. Some were scaling the walls. Those who couldn’t get in stood behind the wall, chanting ‘theatre is not for the privileged!’ I haven’t seen anything like it in my whole life."
According to Prof. Sarno, alternative theatre had begun attracting unwelcome attention from the former Serbian government. While President Milosevic’s government hadn’t imposed direct censorship, many companies lost funding and cultural centers were forcibly closed. Resourceful theatre groups looked outside the country for financial support. Their work attracted international attention and influenced performance groups in other parts of the world.
While in Serbia and Bosnia, Prof. Sarno established relationships with prominent directors and actors. One—Dijana Milosevic (no relation to ousted President Milosevic), the Serbian artistic director of Dah Teatar—visited Beloit this fall, while on a Fulbright fellowship at Georgia College and State University. Ms. Milosevic gave a campus talk on the role of the artist during times of war, joined classes, led workshops, and met students formally and informally.
Prof. Sarno hopes that the passionate dedication of these alternative artists will inspire her own students. "I want to work with students who are willing to explore different techniques, and see where it takes us," she says. "My experiences in Serbia and Bosnia taught me a new way to look at theatre and my own life. I’d like to share that."
| As Beloit College Magazine was going to press, the situation in Yugoslavia changed dramatically. Less than a week after Slobodan Milosevic was removed from office by popular demand, Dijana Milosevic arrived on Beloit's campus. At that time she said: "I'm getting the latest news from home only hours after it happens. I hear that for the first time in many years the Serbian people have hope. The changes are enormous; the whole vibration of the city [of Novi Sad] has changed. People are even walking around with smiles on their faces for the first time in years. The most positive result is that the people have been freed from fear, and they now believe that they can influence politics and all life in Serbia, which was unthinkable only a few weeks ago." |
Faculty email: Amy Sarno - assistant professor of theatre arts